Friday, February 29, 2008

False Police Report Worries Sexual Assault Counselors

Police at Clemson University took the complaint so seriously that students at the school were alerted that a sexual assault had taken place on campus. Now, they have learned that the student lied about the rape and that raises even more concerns for everyone.

Eighteen year old sophomore Krutika Mediwala was arrested Thursday and charged with filing a false police report. Back in January she told police two guys knocked her down and assaulted her from behind in a dark parking lot on campus.

But according to the police, her story did not add up and she was arrested for the lie.

Students say they remember the alert and the extra patrols on campus, and now that it was all for nothing, they say Mediwala should be punished. And rape crisi counselors say lies like that make it bad for real rape victims.

"Technically it can silence the person to report," said Kelly Scurry of the Foothills Alliance. "That compels fear which is a greater concern."

Mediwala was released on a five thousand dollar bond. There has been no word yet on what additional disciplinary action she may face from the school.